You know that awkward moment when you see Melvin Upton Junior wearing the other team’s jersey?
Yeah, that happened Tuesday when the Padres traded the outfielder to the Blue Jays just hours before taking the field in Toronto.
San Diego received 19-year-old pitching prospect Hansel Rodriguez in exchange for Upton.
The Padres will pay all but $5 million of the 22.5 million remaining on Upton’s contract.
Upton made his debut with his new team as a pinch-hitter in the 7th inning.
He grounded into a fielder’s choice and briefly represented the go-ahead run with the game tied 4-4.
Alex Dickerson started in left field for the Padres for the third straight game and continued to settle in to the spot Upton used to patrol.
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The Poway native even connected on a towering 3-run homer in the 6th to give the Friars a 4-3 lead.
Dickerson’s homer traveled 467 feet which is the longest this year by anyone on the team. His blast also extended San Diego’s home run streak to a franchise-record 24 games. The MLB record stands at 27.
Matt Kemp broke the tie in the top of the 12th when he followed Wil Myers’ two-out double with his 23rd jack of the year.
The 2-run bomb made it 6-4 Padres and set the stage for what appeared to be a Padres victory.
But Carlos Villanueva allowed two hits and walked a batter to load the bases with one out.
Andy Green called Paul Clemens to take over on the mound but he could not put out the fire and the winning run eventually scored when Devon Travis touched home on a wild pitch. Toronto escaped 7-6.
Andrew Cashner – who is also on the trading block – made the start with scouts across the majors keeping a close eye on his performance.
There’s a good chance Cashner just made his last appearance as a Padre with the non-waiver trade deadline quickly approaching on Monday.
He gave up homers to Josh Donaldson and Justin Smoak but only allowed three runs over six innings.
The Padres fell to 2-7 on their current 10-game road trip which comes to a close Wednesday with a matinee.
Luis Perdomo (4-4. 6.94 ERA) opposes R.A. Dickey (7-11, 4.44 ERA) in the getaway game which starts at 9:37 AM on the west coast because of the time difference.
